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Big news, the FCC voted today to advance new satellite-to-phone rules that could benefit @SpaceX's Starlink Mobile, despite lobbying efforts by AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile to restrict parts of this proposal. FCC: "This marks a major step to unleash American innovation and investment in next-generation connectivity." The FCC voted to advance a proposal that would: • Open up an additional 482 MHz of spectrum for satellite-to-phone services, expanding eligible frequency bands from 5 to 13. • Eliminate restrictive spectrum-leasing requirements • Remove rigid geographic coverage restrictions • Allow more flexible agreements between satellite operators and wireless carriers • Modernize technical rules to allow more efficient spectrum use • Reconsider exclusive-use rights for certain satellite spectrum bands If finalized, these changes could make it easier for SpaceX to expand Starlink Mobile, access additional spectrum, and reduce regulatory barriers. Here's what happens next: • Late 2026: Public comment period opens, allowing SpaceX, AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and others to weigh in. • Late 2026–Early 2027: Companies submit comments and responses arguing for or against specific rule changes. • Early–Mid 2027: The FCC reviews the feedback, evaluates interference concerns, and considers revisions. • Sometime in 2027: The FCC holds a final vote to officially adopt the new regulations.

Verizon's CEO said today that SpaceX will need at least 4-6 years and $300B-$500B to fully build out its @Starlink Mobile U.S. carrier network: "Their service just can't compete with a terrestrial network. In suburban and urban areas, where 98% of our revenues are, we're somewhere between 100x–1,000x more efficient than they are. We know exactly what they're going to do. We know who they're talking to on towers. There's no magic wand. There's no secret sauce. There's no shortcut. They're going to look at 65,000–80,000 macro sites. They're going to need backhaul, RAN, and a tremendous amount of spectrum. It's going to take a minimum of four to six years to fully build that out. It's going to cost hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars, I assume somewhere between $300 billion and $500 billion. Then they need to build retail, customer service, back office systems, et cetera. All of that gets them basically the same network and same capabilities and same cost structure as what we have today. Then sometime over the next four to six years, they have the possibility of becoming the sixth, not the fourth, the sixth competitor in the market. You can be sure over these next three to five years or six years, we are not going to be standing still. Four to five years from now, we will be two to three generations better than where we are today. We will have high-speed broadband gig-plus coverage across the country with our millimeter wave. We are ahead of most people and already experimenting with what 6G applications will look like." (via Verizon's Q3 earnings call earlier this morning)